The Return of the Heroin Rewrite Version
by acap88
Summary: Three years after the battle at The Valley of End, someone had returned from self-imposed exile, surprising the future Rokudaime. FemNaru


Prologue 1

OoOoO

"_One day, Old Man, I will become Hokage, just like you! And I will protect this whole village, and people will acknowledge me!"_

"_Really? I_'_m happy to hear that, Naruto."_

OoOoO

Naruto could only watch in horror as senbon needles pierce through his teammate, who suddenly stood there protecting him from several. For once, he could never think that someone would try to protect him. He is the village's pariah, beaten and ignored by the rest of the villagers.

**KILL.**

"Why did you do that?"

"Heh...My body moves by its own." Cough. "I...cannot die yet. I...must kill that person." And his eyes closed...

_I couldn_' _protect him..._ _Old man will be disappointed with me..._

**KILL. HIM.**

'_Naruto, I know it is hard to know that you are the container of Kyubi, which attacked our village twelve years ago..._' _The old man Hokage explained to him after the night of Mizuki_'_s betrayal._

"I will kill you..." Naruto muttered darkly.

"First time seeing a comrade die? It doesn't matter, you will join him shortly." The masked shinobi talked from one of the floating ice mirrors. Like the speed of lighting, the person threw dozens of senbons toward the blonde.

"ARGHHH-!" Naruto roared with all his might, stopping the needles in mid-air a few feet away from him. The sound of needles clacking on the ground could be heard, with the gust of wind rushing away from one centre point; Naruto.

**KILL HIM.**

OoOoO

'_Twelve years ago, a great demon fox attacked Konoha..._'

Haku shivered in fear as the head of a large demon fox was formed on top of the blonde, as each second passed, the head was growing larger and larger. He went speechless, fearing death for the second time in his life, the first time was when his father was coming after him with a knife, coated in his mother's blood. Knowing that this day will be his last day of living. As long as he died for Zabuzza, he wouldn't mind as much.

'_To protect Konoha from harm, the late Yondaime sealed the demon into you..._'

He sensed another pulse of chakra coming from Naruto. One by one, his ice mirrors were shattered by the enormous amount of pressure, coming from one enraged Genin.

As Haku prepared to fight, this time seriously; he was surprised to see a tiny hole in front of the blonde. As each second passed by, cracks, like a spider web were coming from the hole; spreading around the kid with a frightening speed. Sounds of glass shattered filled the surrounding area. The image of the blonde kid was replaced with something else.

'Illusion?' Haku asked himself.

As the illusion faded away, the falling crystal shards revealed a small figure; the appearance was similar with the blonde kid earlier. Blonde hair, with the annoying bright orange jacket. However, the figure had a much longer hair compared to the last one, and had more feminine attributes.

'_To protect you_, _Naruto..._' _For the first time of his life, Naruto saw the Sandaime looking very old._

"You are a-" Haku's eyes widened suddenly as the figure disappeared from his sight, and appeared in front of him in an instant. He could see the figure's eyes was filled with rage, and promising his death.

'_You_'_re not what you believe you are._'

"Girl." Crack. A sound of a shattered mask could be heard coming from inside the ice dome.

"Why? Why you didn't kill me?"

OoOoO

Days later.

Sasuke watched his teammate curiously. Did he really beat that masked ninja? And how did he do that?

He kept having a flash from the fight, seeing a girl which looked like Naruto, who wore the same bright orange jacket and had the same hair colour, which differs in length. Naruto is a girl? Impossible.

Naruto realized he was watching him, and started the word-fight. With his usual bright smile.

Feeling annoyed, Sasuke choose to ignore him. He didn't realize that Naruto's smile faded from his face as he walks away.

'_I_'_m just nobody then...Why should he care about me? No one will acknowledge me, except the Old man..._'

OoOoO

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prologue 2.

OoOoO

_Naruto, seven years old._

"_Naruto, can you promised me to protect Konoha if I die someday?"_

"_Old man! You cannot die, you_'_re the Hokage! And I don_'_t want you to die!"_

"_I_'_m just a human too, you know? See, now I am just an old man, waiting for his last breath."_

"_No! Promised me that you_'_ll never leave me! Don_'_t leave me alone!"_

"_..."_

OoOoO

_The night before the Invasion._

"_Sarutobi."_

"_Danzo. What are you doing here?"_

"_Nothing. Is that child...?"_

"_Yes. He_'_s the one who bears the Kyubi."_

"_Hn. By the way, I already know about the invasion tomorrow."_

"..._Danzo, can you promise me to help protect the village if I die in the battle tomorrow? I can_'_t promise you the mantle of Hokage, however."_

"_Bah!_ _I have always held the village_'_s safety as my first priorities."_

"_I know. That_'_s why I tend to ignore your hidden operations with ROOT."_

"_You know about ROOT?"_

"_Yes. I know about its operation, the member, and the funding."_

"_You old monkey. Always one step ahead of me. Never mind, it_'_s no use to hide from you anymore. I_'_ll send some of my officers to help tomorrow; they will help with the counter attack against the invaders. I actually planned to use them right after the invasion ended, to guard the village from any harm. We_'_ve reputation to keep; or else other villages will attack us too."_

"_I take that as compliment, my old rival. It_'_s nice to know you send some help tomorrow. My __subordinates will follow the plan, and I will engage my traitor student alone. Regardless, this is my fight. I don_'_t want to regret about this later."_

"_..."_

"_How about your injury, does it still hurt?"_

"_My right eye and hand had some complications; I had to find the data from your precious student_'_s experimentation."_

"_I_'_m sorry."_

"_What are you apologizing for? You_'_re too soft, old monkey. Maybe it_'_s time for you to step down?"_

"_Yes, I_'_m too soft for my old age. Maybe I should_'_ve stepped down a long time ago. It_'_s just that I fear for the child_'_s safety that I retook the mantle of Hokage."_

"_You can put him under my care."_

"_And change him into mindless killer? No. I want the child to live like a normal child should, my way to honor the last wish of Yondaime."_

"_Bah! We both know that the villagers won_'_t do that. Did you forget what that demon fox did cost us? We lost your successor, who could have peace to Konoha with his fearsome reputation. Can you see the anger, the fear of the villagers_' _eyes every time they see the boy? Those villagers will always make his life miserable, old monkey. Emotion leads to hatred, hatred leads to war."_

"_..."_

"_Fine! I leave you with your ideal. I only care for the best of Konoha."_

"_One last thing. __Danzo, can you promised me to take care of this child, if I die?"_

"_...I can_'_t promise you more, but I will take care of the child. Somehow."_

"_Thank you, my old friend. It_'_s an honor to know you, Danzo."_

"_Me too. It_'_s an honor to meet and know you, Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Professor."_

_OoOoO_

"Argh!"

Naruto was thrown away from Konoha by a single strike from Gaara, clearly showing the gap of strength between them.

"Uzumaki Naruto! Come! Fight me! Show me your worth!" From a distance, a roar could be heard.

'_Damn Crazy Tanuki! Separating me from the old man! How dare him!_' Naruto thought angrily.

"You bastard! What do you want with me? Sasuke is stronger one! Pursue him, you idiot! Don't separate me from the Old man!" He yelled furiously.

He could feel the diminishing life-force of the Old Man, who was facing against his traitorous student. Each seconded that passed by, his life-force is getting weaker, Naruto sensed it somehow.

'_No! I must save him!_' Naruto started to hyperventilate, his breath was getting faster. He was nervous, he knew it. The Old Man needs his help. His precious person. He will protect the Old Man, no matter what.

'_Just like Haku did._'

"Mother wants your blood! Mother won't stop talking about you! Kill you! Maim you! I will taste your blood! Show me the so-called love, will it save your life? HAHAHAHA!" Gaara shouted as he started to transform, changing into a giant-sized tanuki.

From his location, Naruto could see clearly Konoha. The only thing that stopped him from saving the old man was is the monster. How could he defeat the monster? Suddenly his mind started to replay the whole event with Mizuki.

'_You_'_re a monster._'

'_Demon!_'

'_Monster!_'

'_DEMON!_'

Inside his cage, Kyubi chuckled evilly at his meddling. Who knew how fragile a human mind is? '_It is so easy to break a human_' Kyubi thought as he laughed like a mad man.

At the same time, his chakra was continuously siphoned by his host, as a token of 'gratitude'. Kyubi proved to be a sadistic creature, always enjoy a pleasure of tormenting humans. '_This host always proves to be an entertainment, doesn_'_t he? Wait, _'_she_'_. HAHAHAHA!_'

In the real world, Naruto could feel the anger swelling inside his heart. He could feel the amount of power that his tenant gave, it could help him defeat the monster and save the Old Man!

Power!

More Power!

MORE!

'_And kill everything that stops us._'

Kyubi smiled evilly at the prospect of seeing carnage and destruction.

OoOoO

Uchiha Sasuke couldn't believe his eyes. 'So, it was true then.'

Naruto is a girl.

'_The grand entrance by female Naruto was surprising,_' he thought. Shattered glass shards which reveal her slowly, somehow had increase her beauty a notch. '_Compared to Sakura, Naruto is prettier_'. Even Sasuke couldn't deny that Naruto in female form is quite attractive. '_Show-off_'. No wonder Naruto was called '_Number One Loudest, Unpredictable, Hyperactive Knuckleheaded __Ninja of Konoha'._

However, the sight of her pounding a large beast is quite... the, ah, I'm speechless'thing going on.

Nevertheless, Sasuke knew what was wrong. From her eyes, he could see the desire to protect, the madness, how vicious her desire to protect. He envied Naruto, who could easily gain power, whiles he struggled to get some.

'_Does it mean I_'_m wrong? No, not me. Itachi is._' However, years of his heart tormented in getting revenge couldn't easily sway from its path to destruction. '_No, revenge is the only matter. I_'_m an avenger._'

OoOoO

"WHY!"

BAM!

"DON'T!

DUM!

"YOU!"

BOOM!

"STAY DOWN!!"

Naruto distanced herself from the one tailed beast, slowly catching her breath. The damn monster was still standing! She bite her lower lips, '_this is going to be bad_', she though. Time is essential, she remind herself. Her body souldnt hold much longer, the chakra is killing her right now. She could feel that the monster also losing it's strength and it barely holds the transformation. She could see sand trickling away from the beast, slowly shrinking.

At the same time, Sarutobi Hiruzen had signed his own death, by using the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to seal Orochimaru's arms.

Naruto's eyes widened instantly. '_No, this can_'_t be happening._'

Yes it is.

'_The old man can_'_t die, he_'_s the hokage!_'

He is a human too.

'_NO!_'

"NO!!"

Getting desperate, Naruto focused all the fox's chakra into her fist. The tremendous amount of power, focused on a single hit, which cause strain on her body as the power getting compressed.

Seconds later, she jumped forward to the surprised one-tailed beast and punch through the composed body made of sand.

Sasuke went speechless, again. Naruto had done the impossible! He- She punch through the beast like it was made of butter. Not believing his eyes, Sasuke could only stare in shock as the beast started to crumble.

OoOoO

For the first time, Gaara had a feeling of fear. Uzumaki Naruto crawled closer to him, and found that he cannot move at all. His body went numb from the battle with the blond, and was waiting to be killed.

'

_Is this fear?_'

"No! Don't come closer!" Gaara shouted.

He could see the girl crawling closer, using all her strength to move an inch, even using her chin to pull her forward. Gaara could see the determination, the urge to move forward. He can see blood as she trails. Her right hand was severely injured, due to the pressure of chakra.

"NO! DON'T COME ANY CLOSER! STOP!" Gaara shouted again. However, the girl didn't waver. She still crawls. As if her life depended on it. "STO-"Gaara was shocked to see the blonde girl crawled past him, and ignore him. She was still crawling forward.

Gaara could see her destination, Konoha. To be more precise, she was heading toward the stadium, where the Chunin Exam was held before.

"Why?" The girl didn't answer him, she was still crawling towards the stadium. "ANSWER ME! WHY! I don't understand you! Mother keeps screaming your blood! People hate you! No one cares about you! Why do you keep smiling?! And yet you're STRONG!"

The girl stopped, and went still. Gaara, however, could hear her crying. '_Why is she crying?_'

"..ailed."

"What?"

"I failed. The Old Man. I couldn't protect him. I have no one left. I'm alone."

Alone. Gaara could see the similarity. This girl, she. She is just like me. Alone. No one to acknowledge her existence. For the first time of his life, Mother went silent. The girl and I...the same. We are alone.

No!

"...I'm sorry." Cries. "I'm sorry."

She cried louder; ignoring his apologizes. He knew, his words were meaningless to her. She had lost a person in her life, the only precious person for her. Even after he left, he could hear the girl ignore anyone who came to help her. Her cries filled the area, even after the invasion ended.

The girl had thrown away all her connection with the world.

And Gaara have a feeling that he was responsible for it.

OoOoO

OoOoO

"So, this is the Kyubi child?" The former swordsman of Mist asked, with his Samehada drawn.

Uchiha Itachi knew that his partner was getting reckless. The fight with the Konoha Jounin went unsettled, and it hurts his pride as a swordsman to run away from a fight. Regardless, the mission should not be compromised.

"Subdue her. Should I chop her legs? We don't want her to escape from us, do we?" Kisame asked.

Itachi stared at the girl standing in front of him. The said girl looks injured, and her eyes looks...dead. '_So, this is the legacy of Yondaime. With the death of Sandaime, she got it pretty bad for herself.' _Itachi frowned; this is not going to be as planned.

"No. Instead, I will use Tsyukuyomi to break her will." Itachi grabbed her neck, and stared directly into her eyes.

"You shouldn't do that. You already used it against the one-eyed Jounin of Konoha, right? After all, I bet that Jiraiya had already passed through our trap." Kisame raised his eyebrow; this is going to be overkill.

"..Jiraiya-sama's weakness against women will cost him one day. _Tsyukuyomi_"

OoOoO

Uchiha Sasuke had a bad feeling the whole day. The feeling was intensified at the sight of a comatose Kakashi. Then, somebody had blurted out that his brother had come for a 'visit'. Bullshit! Itachi was here, and he will kill him this time!

As he ran through the corridor, he had a déjà vu. The same feeling, the chakra. It was him, for sure! From the corner, he could see the black robe with red cloud designs. To his horror, he saw Naruto being held by his brother to his eye level, and heard the cursed word.

"Tsyukuyomi."

He stared in shock, as Naruto shivered and went unconscious at the moment after Itachi said the word. Sasuke gripped his knuckles even tighter, he could not allow anyone else went through the same torture again!

"ITACHI!!" With his hand covered in lightning chakra, Sasuke ran toward his mortal enemy, his own brother.

Itachi easily deflected the surprise attack, and countered it by breaking Sasuke's arm. As quick as the attack came, he instantly threw his younger brother into a wall, creating a wide crater on impact.

"Itachi, we should go now! I will take the Kyubi child now!" Kisame shouted. Right before he turned, he heard a word.

"Too late." In an instant, the wall was covered in weird flesh, as if it were alive. It quickly covered Naruto and Sasuke, protecting them from any harm.

"_Kuchiyose: Gamaguchi Shibari (_Summoning: Toad Mouth Bind). I personally summoned the esophagus of a great, fire breathing toad from Myobokuzan. No one will escape from me."

"Tch. Jiraiya-sama is here. Retreat, abandon the Kyubi for now." Both of the Akatsuki agents ran away, leaving Jiraiya behind.

"Hah. No one can escape from me! Huh?" Jiraiya was surprised to see a large hole at the wall, allowing an escape route for the rouge ninja. He noticed a weird flame, and sealed it for further use. Staring down at the unconscious blonde girl, he couldn't stop blaming himself for leaving the girl 's side. '_I'm a useless godfather._' He kept chanting it inside his mind.

OoOoO

"Please Tsunade, please heal her."

Tsunade was surprised. For once, Jiraiya didn't utter any word of pervertness, instead he kneeled in front of her asking for help. She was surprised earlier by the presence of Orochimaru, and she expected Jiraya's presence later. However, he being accompanied with one unconscious blonde girl totally startled her.

"What happened?" Tsunade, maintaining her professional demeanor deciding to help. She never saw Jiraiya so sad before, she had seen him be sad once in the past about when he knew about Orochimaru's treachery.

One word.

"Tsyukuyomi."

Tsunade already understand, it must be the famous genjutsu, which able to break the target's mind.

As she proceeds, she noticed the injury on the patient's right hand. She scanned, and shocked to know the injuries caused by the compression of huge chakra. 'This feeling of chakra...' Tsunade quickly opened the girl's cloth, and saw the seal which contain the demon fox.

"She is-"

"Yes, she is the holder of the Kyubi." Jiraiya quickly explained about the invasion, about Naruto's isolation of the world and no longer cared for anyone after the death of the Sandaime. He also told her about the position of Fifth Hokage, which she refused bluntly. However, Jiraiya decide to stay to take care of Naruto's health.

OoOoO

A week later, it was the promised time. Tsunade went alone to face Orochimaru, she decided to fight him alone.

However, as she was traumatized at the sight of blood, someone else came to save her. It was Naruto, who still injured and couldn't fight at all. With her right hand injured, she didn't have a chance at all.

Tsunade could see it, anger, rage, hatred in the girl's eyes. The blond egirl glared murderously at her former teammate, the one who responsible to the death of her sensei.

What had happen in Konoha that could make the girl become so revengeful? Why did she love the old man so much?

She watched helplessly as the girl getting beaten viciously by Orochimaru's aide. She didn't have a chance! Tsunade keep telling herself to move, to go forward and help the girl.

Somehow, the girl went berserk and her outburst sent the aide flying with third degree burn all around his body. The aide easily recovered, with the cost of his chakra.

This time, Orochimaru decide to interfere and jumped toward the girl with his sword, intend to kill her immediately.

Tsunade could see clearly, the sword is getting closer to the girl.

'_Move.'_

And closer.

'_MOVE!'_

She managed to stop Orochimaru from killing the girl. However, the snake sannin managed to cut the blond girl and poisoned her. No time left, Tsunade thought.

This time, she decided. No more running, no more cries. She will hold the mantle of the Fifth; she will change Konoha for good!

"I, as the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, will do my first duty, by eliminating you! The traitor of Konoha! And you're going down!"

OoOoO

OoOoO

"Why hasn't she wake up yet?"

Tsunade glanced from her reports, the rest of Rookie 9 (except Naruto) were there, standing in front of her desk. '_When did these twerps come in?' _She frowned, cursing anyone who recommend her for taking this job.

---

"Ha-choo!"

"Kya! Pervert!"

"Aw crap..."

---

Back to the office, Tsunade sighed. Just before, she had to shoo the Rookie 9 away, telling them to be patient, that she could not solve the problem of Uzumaki Naruto immediately.

What's happening to her? The poison had already been taken out from her body, even the trace of the poison had gone. It must be related to her mental health, as she had reports about Tsyukuyomi that could make a person go insane. '_Of course, considering the user himself went insane and killed the whole clan, '_she thought. Never would it cross her mind that Uchiha Itachi was following the order of the advisors.

She needs to know more about Tsyukuyomi, and she knew someone who knows about it. She pressed a button on intercom, and gave her order.

"Someone please bring Uchiha Sasuke to me."

OoOoO

"You're killing yourself by laying here. Wake up."

Sasuke sat on a chair, next to Naruto's bed. He could see that Naruto was suffering. The effect of a Tsyukuyomi could be devastating; he contemplates the way to counter that. From the archive of the secret Uchiha shrine, the Tsyukuyomi is considered the strongest genjutsu ever used; a perk of any Uchiha who gained Mangekyo Sharingan by killing his best friend.

Now, he was worried. The note never said anything to cure the effect of Tsyukuyomi at all.

His best friend had been through the mental torture, and he could do nothing to stop it. Sasuke didn't know at all, why would he worry about Naruto? The brash, loud attitude. He missed it actually. Since he found out about the true identity of Naruto, he realized that he never know anything about Naruto. Except for his – her love of ramen, he didn't have a clue about Naruto.

And now, she sleeps in front of him, peacefully and never aware of her surroundings. '_She is cute, actually' _Sasuke thought.

'_Will she return to her usual bright demeanor?' _He thought as he hoped.

"Uchiha Sasuke, Godaime ask for your presence in his office." An ANBU stood at the door, waiting for him.

Sasuke followed the officer, reluctantly to leave Naruto. 'She needs most of the protection, not him. Yet, the villagers praise him for protecting the village, while Naruto suffers from the loss of the Sandaime.' He thought as he walked out the door.

Right after Sasuke leave the room, Naruto slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes full with hatred slowly scanned the whole room.

"I smell snake."

OoOoO

"Hokage-sama!"

Tsunade groaned, nearly slipped her morning sake from her hand. The job description didn't tell about 'surprise entry from your useless subordinates'.

"What?" She asked grudgingly, she still feeling sleepy. And she hasn't drink any of the sake yet!

"We found a body outside of the wall. From the clothing, the body belongs to the Hidden Village of Sound, she is revealed to be one of Orochimaru's elite guards."

Eyes widened, Tsunade instantly jumped from her seat. "What? Why would Orochimaru send his guards to here? Tell me more about it! Are there any traces of battle? Any wounds on her body?" Tsunade regain her professionalism, she automatically went in 'working mode'.

"Yes. We believe that the enemy nins were engaging one of our own, and retreated after one of their comrade was killed. We also see trails of blood heading to the forest, which is heading towards the Rice country." The chunin hesitated a bit, but he continued. "Our hunter nin squad were at the scene, however one ninja from Inuzuka clan had found that one of the blood trails is belong to-"Suddenly he was interrupted by Shizune, who entered the office abruptly.

"Tsunade-sama, Naruto is missing!"

"-one Genin named Uzumaki Naruto..." The chunin finished.

Tsunade felt a headache coming on, things just had to get worse. All of the Jounin and Chunin were assigned with various missions, which included the safety of the village. She couldn't afford to waste any manpower she had right now. '_I have to resort to use the Genin_', she thought.

"Can you please bring me Nara Shikamaru? Brief him about the mission, and let him pick his teammates. Tell him to meet here at one hour sharp. Now go!"

The chunin immediately disappeared in a smoke.

OoOoO

"COME OUT!!"

Sakon shivered, hiding his presence among the trees. He recalled the earlier event. He and his group were supposed to bring the Uchiha to their master. However, their plan to use the weak-looking girl to draw the Uchiha out, backfired. She was one of the Uchiha's teammate, he was told.

As they approach closer from behind to ambush and knock her unconscious, the blonde girl, still wearing a hospital gown, suddenly turned with maniac look on her face.

Then, she managed to fight all four of them, alone! They were at handicap, they can't use their full strength, or else squads of ANBU would be alerted. Right before they went to retreat, Tayuya foolishly went forward to kill her. Her foolishness had cause her life, the blond girl killed Tayuya instantly with her chakra.

Sakon spitted, he also was poisoned by the vicious chakra. '_All of the group were poisoned! Is this her bloodline? What the hell with the chakra? Is that why their master warned about her? Is the girl a demon? It is so frustrating, to be beaten by a girl! A crazy one indeed! And now, the crazy girl had followed us back to the forest, near the border of Fire-Rice country. This is going to be bad,_' Sakon thought. Even his brother inside his body went crazy with the presence of the evil chakra, which is more malevolent than Orochimaru's.

Suddenly, he sensed someone standing next to him.

"Found you." With a smile that would threaten to pull her face apart, she stood next to him.

'_Shit__'_ was the only word that went through Sakon's mind, before he died from the mysterious charka.

OoOoO

"Go and find Naruto! Let us handle these guys!"

Shikamaru shouted to Sasuke, and left behind with the rest of his teammate to face the remaining two of the Sound Four. He knew that they have the chance to beat the enemy, since they were outnumbered. There is no time to waste; they have a comrade to save!

"Group! The enemy are outnumbered! We can win this! Follow my order!"

Simultaneous shout of 'yes' could be heard.

'_Troublesome, indeed.'_

OoOoO

"What the-" Sasuke arrived at a large grassy field, only to be greeted by a sight of a group of Narutos fighting against a shinobi. The enemy is quite skilled, as he easily destroyed several clones at once.

Through his eyes, Sasuke could see that the clones of Naruto were using a weird chakra, more sinister than the one he got from Orochimaru. He could see clearly, the red chakra 'invade' the enemy's body, and slowly corrupting his system. The enemy must've realized this too, since his movement was getting slower each minute.

Since he didn't want to waste anymore time, the shinobi destroyed more clones without hesitation. As the last Naruto remained, he went forward and stabs her with his weird looking sword.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled.

'_This is the last one.' _Kimimaro thought. He was surprised to see Naruto smile, even after she got stabbed. She only muttered two words.

"_Bunshin Daibakuha_ (Great Clone Explosion)."

BOOM!

Both Sasuke and Kimimaro were thrown away by the size of the explosion. Sasuke escaped from the explosion unscathed, and Kimimaro managed to change into the second stage of his curse seal, right before the explosion. However, he still got injured, and realized that Naruto was long gone. He noticed Sasuke's presence, and quickly returned to his battle stance.

"So, you are my replacement. You'll make a fine body for Master Orochimaru."

"No way! I won't allow Orochimaru to take my body!" Sasuke shouted, already finished with hand seals. "_Katon: Gōkakyu no Jutsu (_Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!" He produced a large fireball heading toward Kimimaro.

"So be it. I will capture and send you to Orochimaru myself. _Tsubai no Mai_ (Dance of the Camellia)." Kimimaru went forward, and cut the fireball into two with his enhanced bone-sword. As he proceeds to the surprised Sasuke, he was stopped abruptly by a sudden kick to his chin.

"_Dainamikku Entorii _(Dynamic Entry)!"

By the suddenness of the kick, the attacker managed to surprise Kimimaro and sent him flying a distance away from Sasuke.

"Lee! What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked quickly, and regained his composure.

"I, the Handsome Devil of Konoha, had been revived! Thanks to Tsunade-sama, I'm completely healed! All of this thanks to Naruto, who managed to bring her back! And I will repay my debt, by helping you! Now take this soldier pill and GO! Bring Naruto back, my greatest hip rival!" Lee somehow managed to spoke with single breath.

"...Thank you." Sasuke turned to leave, and Lee had him face-fault when he said...

"Sasuke-kun, my master said that to bring back a girl from insanity, the hero must kiss her. And so, you must KISS HER! You understand?" Lee spoke with a serious expression. Sasuke didn't say a thing, as he quickly left to search for Naruto. Lee turned to face Kimimaro, and reassessing the whole situation. '_This man is strong! And I didn't drink my medicine yet!' _He brings out a tiny bottle from his pouch, which confused Kimimaro.

"Honorable fighter, please allow me to drink this medicine before we continue our fight."

"Please do so." Kimimaro's pride as honorary fighter had allowed Lee to take his 'medicine'. Never has it crossed his mind, what the 'revitalized' Lee could cause mess. Yeah, really really devastating mess.

"...What are you looking at, you piece of junk!"

'_Is he getting drunk?...Well, this is going to be interesting…' _Kimimaro thought.

OoOoO

'_I need to stop her! She will be killed, for sure! Wait, I remember that I saw Kakashi use Shunshin! Why didn't I think about this earlier! Damn it. My chakra is going low; fortunately that I have the soldier pill. I have to thank Lee later.'_ Thought Sasuke, mentally slapping himself.

"_Shunshin no Jutsu _(Body Flicker Technique)!" Sasuke disappear within a twirl of leaves.

OoOoO

"Where am I?" First time he used the body flicker technique, Sasuke never even thought of getting lost. Now, he realized that he was standing on the large statue, resembling Uchiha Madara, his ancestor. "This is...The Valley of The End."

Sasuke was amazed by the size of the canyon. It was rumored that the battle between Uchiha Madara and Hashirama Senju had happened here. The battle was so intense, that the earth had been divided into two, separating the Land of Fire with the Land of Rice.

He set his eyes in front of him, into the statue of Hashirama Senju.

'So, that's the First Hokage, the one who beat Uchiha Madara, the strongest man from our clan.'

Suddenly, he sensed someone approaching. It was Naruto, who was still wearing the hospital gown. However, the white gown already drenched in red colour, probably blood. She just realized his presence, and stopped directly on top of the other statue.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, completely surprised by his presence.

"Return to Konoha, idiot! What're you thinking? Barging straight into the enemy territory, you're going to get killed!" Sasuke shouted.

"Who do you think you are, stopping me from getting my revenge?" Naruto yelled back, she started to get angry. From her body, red chakra started to flow out like poured water.

"I'm...I'm your friend!" Sasuke realized that Naruto was taken aback by his claim. Did he say something wrong?

Inside her mind, Naruto was fighting with her thought. She wished that she could stop, but the killer of the Old Man was just too near, she just have to cross the canyon to meet and kill the damned man.

This time, Kyubi choose to be neutral. The host's mind was breaking up, and he didn't want his host to be killed for sure. If he interferes, the girl will go berserk, and he knew it is suicide to go to the enemy's territory alone by herself. However, the girl already broken by the cursed Uchiha's Tsyukuyomi and her mind is not stable right now.

Should he help, or ignore it? Kyubi watched from his cage, Naruto's mind was replaying the torture again and again. This time, his chakra was siphoned forcefully without his consent. '_Crap, I hope the boy can stop her somehow. Just don't kill us!'_

Meanwhile, in real life, Sasuke was shocked by the sudden burst of chakra from Naruto.

"You. Are. Not. My. FRIEND!" Naruto said hatefully.

OoOoO

"Sasuke?"

"..."

"Why are you crying? You're not dying here..."

Naruto coughed more blood from her mouth, Sasuke could only watch helplessly as he cradled her weakened body on his lap. He couldn't stop crying, he kept blaming himself for injuring Naruto.

'_I should had remembered, that Chidori is supposed to be an assassination technique!'_

He looked at Naruto, who had a fist-sized hole at her chest. The wound from Chidori, from his Chidori. He remembered the warning from Kakashi, '_Never use this technique against any Konoha ninja, which include your teammate.' _How he regret to forget the warning, tears flow out from his eyes like pouring rain.

"Hey...Don't blame yourself; I'm the one who went crazy about killing Orochimaru..." She coughs again, which infuriate Sasuke more.

" Why? Why are you so crazy about killing that man? I never want you to follow my path! I 'm supposed to be the avenger for my clan, only I should go crazy about killing! Why would you-"His rant was stopped by Naruto, who put her finger on Sasuke's lips.

"Sasuke, does anyone tell you before, that your eyes are beautiful?" Naruto spoke slowly, her breath catching on the blood, causing her to choke for a second.

"What-?" Sasuke blurted.

"Yeah. Your eyes...they're beautiful." Naruto slowly raised her finger; her finger traveled from Sasuke's cheek to his forehead.

"Stop talking! Please hold on, don't die on me just yet!"

"...Consider this my gift. Thank...you, Sasuke." '_For stopping me. For being my friend. My first friend...'_ Naruto could see the change in Sasuke's eyes, it usual three tomoe Sharingan had turned into six-sided star, resembling an atomic shape.

In an instance, Sasuke feels like his head could explode at the moment. Various kind of unknown knowledge poured inside his brains, each time passed like an eternity. Seconds later, he succumbs to the world of darkness. Right before he fainted, he could hear a Naruto thanking him.

OoOoO

"What on Earth has happened here?" Kakashi asked to no one, as he arrived later at the Valley of The End. From his location, he was shocked to see various kind of damage done to the place. Melting glass, large craters, destroyed statues. And all of this damage was dealt by two of his charges, he knew it somehow.

He immediately jumped from his location, heading towards his unconscious student. As he arrived, he noticed a pool of blood near Sasuke's unconscious body; however the source of blood was missing.

"Pakkun, can you smell Naruto?" He asked his dog companion, hoping for any sign of her around the area.

"No. Her smell is washed away by the rain. Even her blood trail is missing, also the rain proved to be thorn in our side. I can't smell her in a mile radius at all." His dog gave a negative reply, which hurt him more.

'_I've failed you, Minato-sensei. I couldn't protect your legacy at all.' _"I will send Uchiha Sasuke back to Konoha. Please send my thanks to the reinforcement from the Sand, they proved to be helpful on this mission." He slowly takes Sasuke's body, and carry him bridal style. He takes a last look at the valley, before he turned and jumped away.

'_Isn't this irony, sensei?' _He thought.

OoOoO

One hour later. At the secret meeting place of ROOT, Konoha.

"Report."

A ninja, covered in black robe, resembling an ANBU officer of Konoha, kneeled in front of one handicapped old man.

"The mission is successful, Danzo-sama. The target had been re-routed to Myobokuzan. I had interfered with the battle between the target and Uchiha Sasuke, casted an illusion for the latter to injure the target with fatal injuries, just as you planned. I had carried her to a safe position, where Jiraiya will find her exactly now, thanks to our meddling with his information network. We had tampered with one of his informer, saying that one of Akatsuki's agent were present in the area. With extra push, Jiraiya will surely bring the target to Myobokuzan to heal her, as he no longer trusts Konoha to protect the target."

"Good. You can take your mask off. From now on, you will be given a nickname 'Sai'. I will push for the replacement for the Team Seven, and you will replace Uzumaki Naruto." Danzo gave his next order to the kneeling teenager, who slowly revealed his face. He has an appearance similar to Sasuke, but he has a paler skin and shorter hair.

"Sai? It's a good name, Danzo-sama." The one named Sai smiled.

'_Old monkey, I has done what I promised. I hope that you rest in peace.' _Danzo thought.

OoOoO

OoOoO

Three years later.

Uchiha Sasuke is at the peak of his life. He already a Jounin for a year, and he was offered to be the candidate for the position of Rokudaime Hokage. His mission record is excellence, people across the Elemental Nation know about him, the enemy of Konoha feared him, the villagers of Konoha loves him (woman the most), and yet, he is just seventeen!

Thanks to the knowledge that Naruto passed to him, he able to derive different kind of strategies, and create various kind of jutsus, most of them A-ranked and some were categorized as kin-jutsu. His vast knowledge on battlefield had earned him the nickname, 'The Genius Prodigy', some of his strategies are brilliant and proved to be efficient.

His most famous achievement, which was three months ago, was to eliminate the traitor Orochimaru. He splendidly went undercover for six months, and killed the traitor right after he saved many of Orochimaru's terrible experiments. Due to his reputation, the Daimyo of Land of Rice had allowed the Land of Rice to be integrated into the Land of Fire, as the token of gratitude for removing Orochimaru.

Uchiha Sasuke is at the peak of his life. He just has to kill his brother to avenge the death of his clan . Yet, he still feels the emptiness inside his heart. He couldn't deny it; no one could replace his best friend inside his heart. The only one who has shown him the consequence of the path, which Sasuke learned about it with a cost of his friend's life.

The one named Uzumaki Naruto.

OoOoO

Today is the anniversary of the Invasion of Konoha, it also mark the day of Sandaime's death.

Tsunade sat on her usual seat, drinking her sake on her usual cup, and relaxing herself from doing her usual paperwork. 'This is boring' she thought. How much she desire to retire right now, and allow the Uchiha to replace her from the paperwork hell as faster as she can. However, it was too early to retire as she is still alive and able to kick some butt.

As she proceeds with her 12th cup of sake, she could hear some snort right behind her seat. She could also mutter of 'sake-crazy woman', 'lazy drinker' from her seat.

Tsunade put down her cup on her desk, catch her breath slowly. In a blink of eye, she threw one bottle toward a corner of her office, left from her seat with her right hand.

"Who's there?" Tsunade shouted.

The bottle reaches the wall but it didn't break, instead it was floating in the air. Slowly, a person revealed himself to Tsunade, much to her shock. The person then returns the bottle to the rightful owner, who was looking very surprised at his presence.

"You!"

"Long time no see. Two years already, since the last time I meet you here, right? Yet, you're still a beautiful lady." The man spoke out, with a humorous tone.

"If you are here then...She is here too?" Tsunade jumped from her seat.

"Yes. She is back."

OoOoO

Sasuke walked alone toward his destination: The Memorial Stone. It is his annual routine, on this day he will go visit the stone. It's to remember one person. Uzumaki Naruto. He- she had changed his life so much. She gave him the knowledge, the instinct, the chance to become powerful, yet he still retains his sanity. Neither he went to Orochimaru on quest of more power, nor did he kill another best friend of his to gain Mangekyo Sharingan. She totally influenced his life, Sasuke aware about it. Like Kakashi who visit the stone daily, Sasuke will stood in front of the stone, just watching the name of Uzumaki Naruto which were written on it.

However, as he arrived at the Training Ground Seven, where the Memorial Stone was placed, he realized that someone else was standing on his usual spot, watching the stone.

The said person was wearing a fox mask, and he noticed something on her right shoulder was a plush toy resembling a fox. '_As a decoration, perhaps?' _Sasuke thought.

The person must had noticed his presence, and turned to face him. "Sasuke?" This person knows him? He never knew a person with fox mask before...

"Do I know you?" Sasuke asked, intrigued of the identity of the person.

"Ara. Forget me already, TEME?" The said person stressed on the last word. Sasuke instantly recognized the voice, but how? Didn't she died three years ago?

The person slowly slid her mask upward and put it on top of her head, loosening her hair knot, revealing the recognized blue eyes and blonde hair, which only one person Sasuke know would only have. And the person was standing in front of him, looking fine, and smiled.

"Long time no see, eh?"

"Naruto..."

OoOoO

AN: The re-write version, which are beta-d by blacksinger. From today onward, I will try to replace the other chapters. Thanks for the plot bunnies, which was pointed out by our friendly readers, I decide to rewrite the whole story!


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